


Gun and a Prayer

by starksborn



Series: Quilson Zombie AU [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-02-03 09:10:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1739159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksborn/pseuds/starksborn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slade's incoherent from injuries. Oliver paces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gun and a Prayer

Slade’s propped up in the corner with the last of their bandages and a cut-up T-shirt wrapped around his face. 

And Oliver paces. 

He watches as the wraps get darker and darker, and the color drains from the visible part of Slade’s face. 

And he paces. 

He jumps at every noise, sure that the horde they barely escaped has caught up with them, ready to put them down like the whipped dogs they feel like. 

And Oliver paces. 

The sun sets and the moon rises, and a breeze blows through. Slade starts shivering, fumbling in his sleep to pull his jacket around him more,

and Oliver paces. 

The night is long and the moon is bright, and the woods mercifully empty of the undead.

He digs through a bag and finds one of the energy drinks, chugging it back without pause for breath. He’s not sure it even does anything, but consciousness sticks with him until the sky begins to lighten again. 

And Oliver paces. 

He longs for Sara—for Shado— for another pair of eyes to keep watch. 

He overhears Slade mumble in his sleep, and he knows Shado is on both their minds. He wonders if Shado knows, wherever she is. (He tries not to remind himself it’s in a shallow grave.) 

The sun rises over the hill, bathing the valley in orange light, 

and Oliver stops. 

He kneels in front of Slade, shaking him lightly by the shoulder. His eye blinks open and he groans, weakly pawing at Oliver’s hand and shifting a little. 

"Go away," he says. His voice is weak and soft, nothing like the menace and snarls it normally holds. 

"I am," Oliver says. "I have to get you medicine." 

"Don’t bother," Slade breathes. He pauses to groan a little, and Oliver has to keep him from touching the injured side of his face. "We both know how this ends."

"Don’t say that!" Oliver snaps. He frowns and stands up, and angrily starts collecting what he needs. "I’m going, and I’m going to come back and you’re going to be fine." 

Slade lets out something that might be a laugh, but it just sounds like a pained whimper. 

"Always so full of optimism," he drawls. He starts shivering again, despite the warm sunlight falling around them. Ollie takes his own jacket off and drapes it on top of Slade’s, leaning down to tuck it around him. 

"Stay put," he says. "I’ll be right back."

And Slade reaches out and grabs his arm with a strength Oliver was sure he didn’t have. 

"Don’t," he says. "I will not be the reason you get killed."

"And if I don’t go, I’m the reason you die," he snaps. "I can’t live with that. Not after Sara. After Shado." 

"You’re being stupid," Slade growls. Oliver huffs and jerks his arm loose. 

"Yeah, well I had a good teacher," he says. Slade grunts and dips his head, and falls back into sleep, and Ollie snatches up one of his swords. He checks the gun and frowns at the low ammunition, and prays to whatever might be out there that it’s enough. 

Slade moans again suddenly,

and Oliver runs. 


End file.
